French Education Minister Gabrielle Attal said the country is banning women from wearing the abaya in schools because it violates the country’s strict secular laws, viewing the dress worn by some Muslims as a “religious gesture”. The decision was met with mixed reactions. From observers
Attal told JEE News: “It will no longer be possible to wear an abaya in school.
He added that he would “give clear rules to school heads nationally” ahead of the return to classes across the country from September 4.
According to JEE News, the right and far-right had pushed for the ban, which the left said would infringe on civil liberties.
The decision comes after months of a long debate over the wearing of the abaya in schools, where women are not allowed to wear headscarves.
There have been reports of tension in schools over the wearing of the abaya in schools and conflict between teachers and parents.
“Secularism means the freedom to emancipate oneself through the school,” Atal said, describing the abaya as a “religious gesture” intended to test republican resistance to the secular sanctity that constitutes the school. Should be given.
He maintained: “You walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to tell the religion of the students by looking at them.”
A March 2004 law banned “the wearing of signs or clothing by which students visibly display religious affiliation” in schools.
This includes large crosses, Jewish cotton and Islamic headscarves.
Unlike the headscarf, the abaya—a long, baggy garment worn over a modest dress in accordance with Islamic beliefs—occupies a gray area and has not faced any restrictions until now. was
But the education ministry had already issued a circular on the matter in November last year.
It describes the abaya as a group of garments that can be banned if they are “worn in a manner that openly indicates religious affiliation”. Circular puts bandanas and long skirts in the same category.
Policing of clothing
When headteachers’ unions were approached about the issue, Atal’s predecessor as education minister Pap Ndiaye replied that they “didn’t want to publish endless catalogs to specify dress lengths”.
At least one union leader, Bruno Bobkiewicz, welcomed Atal’s announcement on Sunday.
“The guidelines were not clear, now they are and we welcome it,” said Bobkiewicz, general secretary of NPDEN-UNSA, which represents head teachers.
Eric Sioto, head of the opposition right-wing Republican Party, also welcomed the news.
He said that we have demanded ban on Abaya in our schools many times.
But Clementine Auten of the left-wing opposition France Enbaud party condemned what she called “clothing policing”.
Atal’s announcement was “unconstitutional” and against the fundamentals of France’s secular values, he argued – and symbolized the government’s “fanatical rejection of Muslims”.
Barely back from the summer break, he said, President Emmanuel Macron’s administration was already trying to compete with Marine Le Pen’s far-right national rally.
The CFCM, a national body that includes many Muslim associations, has said that clothing items alone are not “religious symbols”.
The announcement is the 34-year-old minister’s first major move since he was promoted this summer to take over the highly controversial education portfolio.
Along with 40-year-old Interior Minister Gerald Derminen, he is seen as a rising star who could potentially play a key role after Macron steps down in 2027.
